Environment Canada's long range forecast for the winter looks like it will be fairly mild because of the El Nino.

However, the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a colder and snowier winter season.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips says it could go either way.

"They use Wooly Bear caterpillars and moon phases and I don't think there's a lot of science behind theirs, however having said that we're not always right ourselves, and we use super computers," he says. "My gosh, they say only a fool or a meteorologist would dare forecast the weather in Alberta."

He says the Farmer's Almanac also had a disadvantage in that it had to come up with the forecast months ago before the El Nino formed.

He says the weather in Alberta is so variable, it's a real challenge to get it right.

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